Christmas for environmentalists...your tips for a better Christmas

[joggerbottom]

Over the years we have made small changes to how we consume over the Christmas period. What do you do to reduce waste etc whist still embracing the Christmas spirit?

This year we will:
Have a vegan Christmas dinner for the first time - thankfully Christmas pudding falls into this category!

Make my own crackers with cardboard and handpicked gifts for the children only (last year we did wooden finger puppets)

Refuse to use wrapping paper that cannot be recycled / any packaging that is shiny or has glitter on it. Last year I decorated paper with Christmas stamps

Shop local for gifts and food

Refuse to buy chocolates that are individually wrapped (Quality St, Roses, Heroes etc...).
Buy Christmas cards made from recycled paper
Buy a sustainably grown Christmas tree

Buy less stuff
Buy secondhand stuff
Try and fail miserably to get relatives to do either of those things!

I’ve been getting lots of stuff from charity shops/shpock and putting away for Xmas so as much as possible will be second hand. Also saving brown parcel paper from Amazon etc for wrapping. I’ve bought refillable advent calendars. Going to ask relatives to give money rather than gifts (not sure how this will go down though!)

Agree on no presents for adults now to pre-empt the people who like to start early, except maybe consumables like alcohol or chocolates. No-one wants 90% of it and it just ends up in cupboards or the charity shop.

Reuse last year's decorations. In fact, reuse them every year. We still have the same set of baubles I bought for our first Christmas tree 25 years ago, with a few additions, and the idea of new every year baffles and disgusts me.

Get our Christmas dinner things delivered by Riverford - organic food in minimal packaging and virtually all recyclable/reusable.

Re-use present bags (DH's family all use them so loads of them circulate around in the family). Where paper is needed make sure no shiny or glittery stuff.

Cut up cards to make next years gift tags.

Drinks in glass bottles/cans rather than plastic.

Use lunchboxes to store leftovers rather than foil/clingfilm.

Don't write Christmas cards to anyone.

Avoid buying anything for the sake of buying something, whether it's food or gifts.

Cut back on who you buy for.

If you have to buy a gift, make it an eco one - steel water bottle, reusable shopper, sustainable toiletries etc.

Real Christmas tree instead of plastic (though I have always done this so not new!)

Wrap presents in recyclable brown paper and fabric ribbons

Vegetarian

No tinsel

Homemade and local presents

the idea of new every year baffles and disgusts me.

Do people buy new baubles every year?! Surely part of the joy is the nostalgia of your old favourites!

We buy one or two new baubles a year plus sometimes other bits but some go back 25 years or so now. A couple of years ago our Christmas stuff had got a bit too much so I had a good sort out when putting it away, put aside a carrier bag of spares in the loft and put a reminder in my phone to take it to a charity shop the following September.

We wrap everything either in plain brown paper (recyclable, saved from packaging where possible) with string or fabric ribbons, or in gift bags that we’ve been using for years.

Don’t buy any new decorations.

Buy as many gifts as possible second hand.

Get the kids to make cards and gift tags from old cards, old wrapping paper etc.

I've bought some drawstring bags last year which can be reused for presents to cut down on how much wrapping paper is needed. I think I'll buy some more.

Make gift tags out of last years Christmas cards.

Maybe some second hand gifts, I also quite like markets and local businesses for presents.

I'd be open to a veggie/vegan Christmas but DH is a serious carnivore.

Ooh, great thread!

We'll also be having a vegan Christmas dinner for the first time, and looking forward to a cheeseboard from the Fauxmagerie as a treat.

Buying second hand as much as poss and not over-buying (kids are under 5 so this is easy enough for now).

The hard party is discouraging relatives from buying piles of plastic things wrapped in glittery paper...

No cards would go down very badly with my extended family so will think about how to get the children to make some out of bits and bobs we already have and hand-deliver them when we see people.

We’ve knocked Xmas cards on the head.

Years ago I bought present bags in the sales they are the sort meant to be used once but I store them under the bed and they come out each Xmas. Presents just go in there.

Dh and I have decided that our present to the children (not from FC) is a treasure hunt for the kids. Planning it now so it will hopefully keep them entertained and have enough excitement to last most of the Xmas morning. We are going to recycle an old jigsaw I found at his parents, and the kids have to find clues, do puzzles and get some pieces. Hopefully they will then sit and do the jigsaw nicely together.

I’ve always got them a secondhand gift as a sharing present.

we very much instill the spirit of Xmas as time to be with family, and to be grateful for what we get.

We only send cards to people we won't see over the period.

Wrap gifts in brown paper.

I use a plastic tree - my argument being that we've used the same tree for 8 years so that's 8 real trees that don't need to be cut down and discarded after a few weeks. Makes me so sad seeing the streets littered with dead trees that could be alive and in the ground.

We have a general rule of not buying anything that won't be in use after 3 months thus avoiding the cheap tat/stocking filler type gifts that are normally just pointless.

Buy gifts people actually want/will use. If in doubt, get a voucher or give money so they can buy something they will use rather than just sling an unwanted gift into the cupboard.

Make jam/gin/candles for gifts?

Don't overbuy food. It's one day.

Fucket love the treasure hunt idea

Brilliant thread.

Last year we used brown paper to wrap after I heard the foil and glitter ones were harder to recycle?

Trying so so hard not to buy plastic!

Yes I also stopped stockings filled with novelty stuff.

Reducing present buying in general helps. I've asked for no more toys for DD, until she is allowed 3 plus stuff I don't see the point. I get that some people have etiquette issues with requesting specific gifts but you do get less waste.

Just less of everything.

Do something like a £20 Christmas, or charity shop/Preloved Christmas.

Eat less than you might

Agree no gifts for adults and tell people well in advance.

Sound system- I will check out the Fauxmagerie!

If grandparents usually buy toys ask them to buy Panto or local theatre tickets instead so they can take the child/children out for an experience instead of a toy that might not be appreciated or easily discarded.

Reuse packaging - I save decent cardboard boxes and gift bags and will use for any gifts I need to wrap.

For stockings, I buy practical gifts like umbrellas, hats/gloves etc and consumables like bath bombs and sweets.

I make my own chocolate selection boxes. I buy individual chocolates and I put them in small buckets (recycled from Easter and spray painted gold).

Fucket- may have to steal your treasure hunt idea :)

I'm a 100% Christmas-A-Holic but some of these sound grim

First off - all this ^ only works if you do it all year .

I have been vegetarian for the last 39 years . Not buying a turkey for one day will do Diddly Squat for the meat industry . If you want a turkey have one but buy a Free Range one that you know has been humanely reared and slaughtered .

Do I want a load of 2nd hand stuff for presents . No. I'd rather have nothing .

Recycling cards to tags , means I'd have to keep them somewhere . I haven't sent cards for years TBH.

Delivery of products online rather than all of us piling off to the big shopping centre .
Take the bus
Walk to local shops (though I was round my local shops on Friday and they are dwindling. We have more Charity shops, Betting shops and Turkish barbers than anything else )

I 100% agree with not buying a load of 'just because' presents . Gifts sets are a case in point . Who really wants a tea-pot and a couple of tea bags in a pretty box , or a set of body products you won't use . Thar is destined for landfill/charity shop.

Wrapped chocolates last longer , you're less likely to eat too many .

I don't smoke/drink/eat meat,fish or chicken /wear make-up or do Spa Days . But it is my favourite time of year , not just one day . But on the day itself , I don't want it to be miserable .